Spicy, Minty, and Delicious

One of my favorite drinks is a ginger peppermint tea. I had been buying it for years and then all of the sudden it was out of stock everywhere. Ginger peppermint tea settles my stomach and helps with my bloating. So, when it was out of stock and I ran out I had to do something. It probably wasn't a huge deal, but it felt like a major thing to me and my sensitive stomach.

I ended up buying dried ginger and dried peppermint from Penzey's. It was my first trip to Penzey's and I fell in love. They have so many awesome things, but that is not the point. Their herbs and spices are great prices. I ended up buying 2 - 1 oz bags of peppermint and 1 - 0.85 oz jar of minced ginger. The herbs smell wonderful when you get them open. They smell so much better than what I would typically buy at the grocery store.

When I make my tea I keep it in an airtight container. I keep mine in a plastic container with a lid. I mix equal parts ginger and peppermint in the container. Usually I do about 3/4 cup each for one batch then put the lid on and shake it up.

When I make my tea I boil my water in a teapot. I use stainless steel and silicone tea balls with about 1-1.5 teaspoons of the tea mixture in them to brew my tea. I love these because they seal tight enough that leaves do not leak out. The holes are small and the leaves do not leak out any of the seams. They also come with a little cup like thing to set your tea ball in when you are done steeping your tea. I usually let my tea steep about 20 minutes.

This tea is a beautiful golden color. This tea has a spicy, minty and delicious flavor. The ginger helps with nausea and the peppermint helps with gas and bloating. This tea is also great when I have a headache. I love this tea and it is much cheaper than buying boxes of pre-made tea bags.

Memorial Day

"Ask not what you country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." — John F. Kennedy

Memorial Day comes every year. What can you say that has not been said before? Today we remember the men and women who have lost their lives in the service of our country, fighting for our freedom.

This year Memorial Day has taken a deeper meaning for me. My sweet son and I spent Sunday afternoon visiting our local National Cemetery. I have been to National Cemeteries before, for a funeral and visiting Washington D.C. Looking at the rows of neatly arranged tombstones it always hits me how many men and women have served our country, but never more than today.

When you look up the hill, you see countless tombstones in their straight even rows. There were many families wandering through the rows, praying, crying, and saying goodbye once again. There were some families like us walking through paying our respects to the ones who have given it all. Many of the men and women buried here fought in wars long ago and made it home. Some gave their lives young, well before their time.

As we drove up to the cemetery, the drive was lined with our beautiful flag. The first thing we did was go to the visitor center building. From there you can see the Memorial Wall and the large flag. Across the street was the Memorial Walk. As we were about to cross the street, we met an older gentleman. He was trying to figure out where he needed to go to find his wife's ashes. The only other time he had been there was when her ashes were interred. My son and I, helped him scour the map to show him where to go. The reasons people are here vary widely.

I had been moved to tears multiple times as we walked. On our journey, we encountered a woman, sitting on the ground in front of a wall where ashes are interred. I felt a gentle internal nudge to stop, and if you know me you will know how hard it was to obey this nudge; I do not typically approach strangers. The woman was sobbing uncontrollably. I don't know who she mourns; I don't know how they died. We stopped and asked if we could sit with her and pray with her. She said we could. Logan and I sat with her and prayed. She grabbed my hand as I prayed, taking what comfort she could. After we prayed we just sat for a while in silence.  

Later, as we were walking through the graves there was an older woman standing alone. She was softly crying. I felt another tug at my heart to stop. We approached and I felt led to give her a hug. I asked if I could give her a hug and pray with her. Her response was "Yes, please." I hugged her and we prayed with her. She was so glad that someone stopped. Her husband had been buried one year ago that day. He was in the Navy. He made it home from war, to spend years with his family. Her grief was great for the love she lost.  

The National Cemetery provided an eye opening experience. As we drove the 45 minutes home, we had profound conversation about what Memorial Day is all about and why we remember the ones who gave their all for our freedom. Take today and remember all that has been lost, all that our soldiers and sailors have given for our freedom. Everyday be grateful for their willingness to die for our freedom. Remember the family and friends of those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.

“The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” — Minot J. Savage

Parfait Party

This set of SupaCute Dessert Cups with Lids and Spoons is really great. This package comes with 24 cups, 24 lids, and 24 spoons. They come in a nice plastic box. We use them for parfaits and fun little layered desserts. Each cup is almost 3 inches tall. The lid adds another inch. The lids fit well. They do not clip on though so I would not recommend carrying them by the lid. These containers are a hard clear BPA free plastic. The spoons are the same. The containers are a really neat shape. They are square at the bottom and the sides angle out to make a wider square at the top. They would be great for parties and events that you want cute little desserts.

I have some health issues that I cannot eat some of the things my son and husband can eat so this makes it easy to make small portions of desserts that can be individualized for everyone. My son’s favorite dessert so far is a layered dessert with angel food cake cut into small cubes, strawberries sliced and arranged neatly, and whipped topping. We layer this until it is full and then put a spoonful of whipped topping on top with a strawberry on top. My favorite little dessert is shortbread with a tiny bit of lemon curd and whipped topping. These can also be used for dirt pudding. I love the lids because we can prepare them ahead of time and then put the lid on and refrigerate it. I don’t have to mess with cling wrap sticking to itself or anything.

These containers are washable and reusable. They are easy to clean. I would not recommend trying to put them in the dishwasher. These containers are great for desserts, but when you put the lid on and they are empty they remind me of a terrarium. I may try to plant a little something in one and see how it grows.

You can buy these dessert cups on amazon here or direct from Laguna Wholesale here.

I received this product a discount on this product. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Memories are Gifts that Keep on Giving

The gift of giving is one I have always gotten great joy from. My Grandma always loved giving gifts too, but she was terrible at picking out gifts. She was also a re-gifter and a clean out my closets and pantry kind of gifter. Every time we went to her house she would try to send us home with at least one plastic grocery bag of stuff, always junk no one in their right mind would want.

She used to coupon, and I don't mean the kind of couponing where you find coupons for things you use or things you want; I meant the kind of couponing where you clip EVERY coupon in the circular and buy everything you can find at the grocery store. This meant she bought every new strange flavored chip, cookie, cracker, cereal, salad dressing, and more that she could find. She would open the box and taste these new products and decide they were awful and put them back in her pantry. Then, when company came, usually my family, she would go through the pantry with grocery bags and send her open boxes of random junk home with us, where my mother would promptly throw them all away.

She didn't just buy weird grocery stuff. She bought all kinds of other weird junk, that then found other homes. When I was in college I took a guy I was dating to their house. When we arrived she did her normal going through everything to find something to give us. Well, the poor guy I was dating left with an umbrella hat. Yup, you did read that right, an umbrella hat. It was always something and usually something off the wall.

I got some terrible birthday and Christmas gifts, too. As a fourth grader my Grandma gave me a shirt for my birthday. She always gave a toy or book and some kind of clothes. This year the shirt was awful... I mean absolutely horrendous. It was the ugliest shirt I have seen in all my life. It was maroon, purple, goldenrod, a little green, and ugly. The shirt was long sleeves with a ruffle at each of the sleeves and along the bottom hem. One sleeve was purple and goldenrod vertical stripes. The other sleeve was purple with goldenrod and green polka dots. The front of the shirt was an atrocious floral pattern with huge roses maroon roses on an odd purple background. The ruffles were all horizontal stripes. Then the back of the shirt was a plaid type pattern with all the ugly colors. I hated that shirt. The fabric was scratchy on top of being ugly. I hid it in the back of my closet for a while. Almost every time I saw my Grandma for almost two years she asked about that shirt and why I didn't wear it to her house and I lied... I always told her it was in the dirty clothes because I had worn it recently.  About six months or so in I threw the ugly shirt away. It was too ugly to even feel good about putting in our giveaway bag. I finally after almost two years told Grandma I had outgrown it so she would quit asking.

Then, when I was in sixth grade my Grandma got me Sesame Street birthday blowers; you know, the kind you find at little kid's birthday parties that you blow and they make a noise and the rolled up paper unfurls. It was hard to put on a happy smile when I opened that Christmas gift. I remember being thoroughly disappointed with it, but now it is one of my fondest memories. She was excited about them. She loved to give people things.
In her later years of life, she really missed the joy of sending us home with stuff. When she was in assisted living she did not drive and could not cart boatloads of stuff home on the bus that took them to Walmart so she had to reign in her shopping. When we would leave from our visits she would say, in a disheartened voice, "I'm sorry I don't have anything to give you." You gave us enough, Grandma, enough love and memories to last for lifetimes. Memories are gifts that keep on giving.

Be Prepared

Life with a chronic illness is hard. It is not always fun, but you learn to live with it and you learn from it. It teaches you so much. Some of the things I have learned, slowly and painfully in some cases, are about how to deal with medical professionals.

Be prepared. Growing up in an active Boy Scout family, I have heard this a million times or more, but never has it found a place in my life like it has since I got sick.

Before you go to the doctor, make a list of any questions, concerns, new symptoms, or ideas you want to mention for your doctor. I keep a running list in my phone for anytime I need to make a note for the doctor. Sometimes my list is really long and sometimes I end up dividing it up for my different specialists. Before I go to my appointments, especially my routine appointments, I go over my list and reorganize it in order of the most important to the least important items. Depending on what doctor I am going to I may print out my list and give them a copy to make sure they have everything. My list includes new symptoms, questions about new treatments for my symptoms, diet changes, and much more.

Be ready to advocate for yourself. Do not be afraid to question your doctors. Sadly sometimes you know more about your illness than they do and with some illnesses, like GP, the symptoms vary wildly from person to person. Advocating for yourself is a necessity. If you are ill enough that you cannot easily advocate for yourself take family or a close friend to your appointment to help. There have been times I have needed my husband to advocate for me, especially in Emergency Rooms and Urgent Care. Some doctor's will try to downplay your illness or treat you in a way that makes you feel stupid. Don't let them walk all over you. No one knows your body better than you do.  When I go to the ER I regularly have to explain to doctors and nurses what gastroparesis is and what I need them to do for me because they have no clue.

Do your research. When I first got diagnosed with gastroparesis my doctor knew very little about it. He gave me a one page front and back handout, with basically all the information he had. It included a very basic diet plan with no in depth information and a basic description of what GP is. It did not give me any real information. So, I took to google... and I learned a ton. I took some of my new knowledge to my doctor who did some reading as well and over time we found a plan to manage my symptoms.

Find people that have been there. I found some support groups for gastroparesis by searching FaceBook. Those groups got me through the hard days. They gave me support and encouragement. They also gave me ideas for things to talk to my doctor about.

So... if you get anything from this get this... Be prepared! It will take a lot of stress and pressure off of you when it comes time to go to the doctor.

For more information on gastroparesis and for gastroparesis support check out G-Pact here.

The Great Ladybug Release

Day of The Great Ladybug Release

My garden and flowers have had aphids and other bugs... and while I like bugs I do not like bugs that hurt my plants. I have tried organic gardening sprays and my bug problems were getting worse not better. I had been reading everything I could find on the internet about what to try. I tried Neem Oil, mixes with Dawn Dish Soap, and a couple of other store bought things. Nothing was helping... So I bought ladybugs. I found a package of 1500 ladybugs on amazon. They do recommend ordering them with expedited shipping so they don't die from heat or cold in the mail.

Day 2

I was expecting to have at least some dead lady bugs, but amazingly there were very few dead ones. When my ladybugs arrived I opened the package, and they did not smell awesome, but it wasn't too bad. The package said to release your ladybugs at dusk or early in the morning. While you wait for time to release them it says to refrigerate your ladybugs. They come in a mesh pouch with a little bit of wood/straw bedding.


Our ladybugs sat in the fridge for about 5 hours before we released them. We released them about 6:30pm. That gave us enough time to do it before my son had to go to bed and the day had cooled off some by then. We snipped the bag open and the ladybugs started trickling out. After a few minutes the ladybugs really started waking up; they would crawl out of the bag and up our hands and arms and onto the roses and the garden plants. My son got a kick out of releasing the cute little bugs. He loved letting them crawl all over him. He also has enjoyed scouring the yard looking for them everyday.

Day 3

Over a few days a lot of the ladybugs flew off. It poured down rain off and on the first three days we had them. They did pretty well. I still find some when I check my garden plants a week later. They seem to spend a lot of time in my roses and parsley or at least they are easier to find on those plants. I do not see as many other bugs or damage on my plants as I was before we released the ladybugs. It has been a week since we released them and they are doing well.

You can order the ladybugs here.

Day 6

Growing Ginger

I love ginger. Ginger in candy, ginger in tea, ginger in soups, but sadly our local store doesn't always have the greatest selection of ginger or the best price for ginger. Thankfully growing ginger is easy and the taste and freshness are superior to grocery store ginger. Being able to easily grow your own remedies is a wonderful thing.

Ginger about one and a half months after new shoots came up.

The part of ginger you typically cook with is the rhizome or the root. The rhizome has a substance called gingerol that is good for nausea, morning sickness, arthritis, and many more ailments. It is easy to grow and can be grown in the ground in many of the Southern states. It can also be grown in pots in the northern states. It is much easier to grow than I expected; it is a plant it and forget about it kind of plant. The first time I bought ginger to grow I bought it online from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Since then I bought some from a local herb farm that I love, called Maggie's Herb Farm. Make sure, when you buy ginger, that you are buying culinary ginger. There are many ornamental verities of ginger that are not edible.

Ginger needs a few basic things to grow successfully. Its main needs are good soil, some light, and warm weather. It does not like freezing temperatures, soggy soil, or direct sun. Planting ginger is easy. You plant in early spring. You dig a hole and plant it with the eyes facing upwards. These eyes become the shoots of the plant. Let it grow all year and when the leaves start dying you can dig your rhizomes up. My ginger is planted in pots that sit under a tree.

One of my pots of ginger with new shoots coming up

Some people say you can grow ginger from the roots you buy at the grocery store. I have never had luck with this. Grocery store ginger is sprayed with chemicals to keep it from growing. Some things say soaking it overnight will make it grow. I have not had success with this theory and recommend buying it from a reliable nursery locally or online. Once you get it started you can keep it going forever. Most of my ginger is two years old now and doing well in pots and planter boxes. In the last month or so it has grown from nothing to about 8 inches tall. It gets new shoots all the time. Ideally, I would love to find a place in my yard where I can have a large ginger patch. I have yet to find that place that is out of the way enough to let it take over.

Ginger can be harvested slowly over time by digging up a little bit and breaking or cutting off small chunks of the rhizomes as you need them or it can be harvested all at once. Some can be kept back to replant in the spring of the following year. I harvested only a small bit of my ginger last year. I started it late in the year and just broke off a small piece and left the rest to grow this year.

A rhizome of my two year old ginger plant.

Fresh ginger can be used in many recipes. I use minced ginger in soups, rice dishes, teas, marinades, sauces and so much more. It can also be used to make ginger tea or infused with other teas. It can be candied and sweetened, made into syrup, or dried and preserved for later use. If you want to use dried ginger without growing and processing it you can buy it online. One of my preferred brands is Frontier Herbs or from Penzey's.

Life Lessons From the Church Kitchen

As an adult, with a family of my own and a home across the country, I look back on life and the people in it that have shaped me into the woman I am today. I grew up in a loving home. I had two wonderful church families as a child and young person. It was through forced labor in the church kitchen that I met some of the most wonderful and inspiring people and learned some life lessons.

1. Through your service will be blessed and be a blessing to the people you are serving.
   My mom made me work in the church kitchen as kid and teen. She was always working in there, so by default I had to help. As an adult I find myself in the church kitchen a lot and I love it. I find that serving and working in the kitchen is as much a blessing for me as it is for the people I am helping feed. I don’t need the glory you get from singing or preaching. Doing dishes, taking out trash, and being unseen is fine with me. It is a job that needs to be done and it is a blessing to the people that don’t have to do it. I have been blessed a thousand times over through the relationships I made while I worked.
2. It’s okay to make a mistake or a mess… and sometimes say a bad word or two.

My Great-Aunt Frances worked with my mom in the kitchen. One Sunday morning while the rest of us sat in church they were in the kitchen preparing for a meal. The kitchen was just down the hall. My Aunt Frances dropped an entire big container of silverware; it crashed and clanked and clattered to the floor and Aunt Frances responded by loudly saying… “Oh Shit.”

3. Be careful who you let cut dessert.

We had one older lady that always wanted to cut desserts. My mom was in charge of the kitchen for years and everyone always told her “Don’t let Lois cut desserts. No matter how hard Mom tried to give her other jobs every time she turned around Lois was cutting cakes. When she cut cakes it went like this… Cut, plate, lick her fingers, lick the knife, cut, plate, lick her fingers, lick the knife…. And so on and so forth until all the desserts were cut.

4. Work hard even when you don’t feel like it.

When you ask for volunteers at church you end up with all kinds of people. Some of those people work despite with chronic illnesses, knee problems, and depression. The work is not always fun; there is rarely any glory from working in the kitchen, but the people that volunteer do it because they love their Lord. They work hard, no matter how tired they are and they find joy in the work and the fellowship. There is always something you can do no matter what your health is like. I know working brings me joy even though I am often exhausted by the time I am done.

5. Care about others.

The people I met in the church kitchen care about others. They love people. They love the fellowship. When we first joined our church the first thing I volunteered for was helping in the kitchen during Vacation Bible School. At the time, I was struggling with life. My health was a mess, we had a lot of changes at home recently. The ladies, and men, in that kitchen loved me. They hardly knew me at that point, but they loved me. They listened and gave me advice and support and encouragement that God would see us through. That fellowship and love and caring spirit and the prayers of those people have seen us through. I have been blessed to have people like that my whole life.

6. Old people are awesome. Listen to them.

Most people my age see elderly people as boring and unimportant. As a kid our church was mainly elderly people. I worked with them in the kitchen, spoke to them at church. I learned that they are a lot of fun. They are funny and loving. They have so many experiences that are truly amazing. I grew up with more extra sets of grandparents that you can imagine. I thank God for that often. As I have grown up some of these people have passed on, but I remember them with a smile. I remember the peace and the joy and the passion they lived life with. Spend time with the elderly people in your life. Sit down and listen to them. The things you can learn about them are so very valuable.

7. They have some great recipes. Don't be afraid to ask for them.

All my life I thought I hated dressing or stuffing or whatever you want to call it. I never ate it at Thanksgiving or I got the tiniest spoonful possible to be polite.... Until I tried Janice Powell’s dressing. It is a cornbread dressing and it is wonderful and I by wonderful I mean absolutely delicious. It is the only dressing I eat. I still think others are gross. Don’t get me wrong, there are some weird things you will find at pot luck dinners, but there are some glorious dishes. Ask people for their recipes. You won’t regret it and you might get some good stories that go with the recipe.

8. Smile, laugh, and find joy everywhere.
   Some of my favorite people from the church kitchen are gone now. God has called them home. They are people who found joy in the hardest times of life. They were able to laugh at their mistakes. They had such a sense of joy and hope in them that was visible even in the worst of times. Their happiness was contagious. I am by nature a pessimist. Being joyful is very hard for me, but these women have taught me to look for the good things in life to laugh when times are hard. Thank you, Joyce Markwood, for being a joyful, fun, and wonderful person. I appreciate the joy and hope you shared in all our interactions.

Thank you to all of the men and women in church kitchens everywhere. You are awesome. You are a blessing to so many.

Thank you, Mom, for forcing me into service and teaching me to love it. I apologize for fighting the things you tried to teach me all those years ago.

My Mom and I

Even If She Was Not Always Nice

All my life my Grandma had a couple of things that really bothered her... and by bothered her I really mean she hated them and was not at all nice about them. One of these things was fatness. Yup, you read that right. She hated when people were fat.

As a kid we would go to my Grandparent's house and she would ask me if I was getting fat. Mind you I was never a big kid. I was always pretty skinny. One of the funniest things was she would ask me if I was getting fat and then she would say things like "Do you want a Snickers?" For someone who hated people getting fat they always had plenty of junk food around and always tried to force it upon everyone even when we politely said "No, thank you."

After I had gained weight

As a young adult I gained lots of weight. My Grandma made sure to comment on it regularly. She didn't care if it hurt my feelings; she thought telling me was helpful and would change the fact that I was fat. When I got gastroparesis and lost a bunch of weight my Grandma was thrilled. She didn't really understand how sick I was. I lived across the country by then.

While my Grandma lived in assisted living she always complained about what she called "the fat butts." They took up extra space, their chairs stuck out into the walkways in the dining room. I tried to explain that it wasn't nice to call people fat butts. She told me she could say what she wanted because it was true, they did have fat butts. She tried to convince "the fat butts" that they should walk with her daily so they could lose weight.

The first time Grandma saw me after I lost we

Last fall my Grandma was in the hospital dying, I unfortunately could not go home to see her. Thanks to modern technology, my son and I did have an opportunity to FaceTime with her in the hospital. We talked about how much she loved us and how much we love her. We talked about life and death. She told me she was ready to "go home" to her heavenly home. The whole time my heart ached knowing this would be my last conversation with her. I was on the verge of tears and then in good old Grandma fashion... she says "You haven't gotten fat again, have you?" In a slightly exasperated voice I said "No, Grandma" and had my son hold up the phone so she could see me from head to toe. Then, she asked if my son was fat and made me show him to her from head to toe. She was thrilled that neither of us had gotten fat. I was glad that even with death at her door she had not changed... even if she was not always nice.

A Cherry on Top

My son loves ice cream, especially ice cream sundaes with toppings galore. What I don't love is giving him a huge bowl of ice cream. It makes him bounce off the walls. When I grab a bowl, a normal sized bowl to make a sundae I either overfill it and make him hyper, or I under fill it and make him sad because his bowl looks empty. Recently I came across some ice cream sundae cups that fix that problem.

I ordered the small flower cups. These cups are great for a lot of reasons. They help you practice portion control. They are BPA free. They are washable reusable plastic. They come with cool little spoons. They are cute. They come in three different colors, pink, blue, and green, and are a translucent plastic. The spoons are also multi-colored and are a shiny transparent plastic.

The cups are perfect for kid's sundaes. If you pack a scoop they fit one large packed scoop of ice cream, a little bit of chocolate sauce or other toppings and as much whipped cream as you can manage on top. I am still working on the art of spraying whipped topping neatly, not that my son really cares how it looks as long as he gets to eat it. My son's favorite ice cream sundae is vanilla ice cream, gummy bears, whipped cream, and they always have a cherry on top.

The spoons are like little gelato spoons, not your typical spoon shaped spoon. These cups could be used for sundaes, small snack cups like goldfish, bowls for mints on the table, and so much more. There are also medium and large varieties if you want to make larger sundaes.

The small ice cream cups can be found on amazon here or directly from Laguna Wholesale on their website here.

I received a discount on this product. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Magic Flames

During spring break I tried to find lots of fun stuff to do with my son. One of the things he begged to do all week was roast marshmallows. Friday night came around and I surprised him with a fire and marshmallows to roast. He joyously roasted marshmallows and then wondered if we were going to put out the fire. I had one more surprise up my sleeve... Magic Flames.

Magic Flames are little plastic packages with some type of chemical powder in them that causes your flames to be colored. The plastic packages are not the traditional plastic I expected. They burn up completely with no residue or goopy plastic puddle. It does take a couple of minutes before the flames start being colored. The colors are great. They are fun and vibrant. We had mostly blue and green flames from ours with some pink and purple flames. I cannot explain how fun this was. My son loves this.

Depending on the size of the fire you can add 2-3 packages to your fire. When I got these I only got a two pack to see how they work. Before summer arrives I am getting a big box so we can have lots of colorful fires. My son has been begging to do these again soon.

You can buy Magic Flames here.

Relief from Nausea by Eating Ginger Candy

Living with gastroparesis and constant nausea, I have learned some natural remedies. My favorite home remedy is ginger candy. I have so much relief from nausea by eating ginger candy. My two favorite ginger candies both are by The Ginger People, one is a hard candy and the other is a chewy candy.

Ginger has been used for thousands of years for digestive ailments as well as some other health problems. It has a substance called gingerol that has medicinal properties. Ginger helps with nausea and bloating, as well as pain, headaches, muscle soreness, and is said to be helpful for brain function and lowering cholesterol. The reason I eat ginger is for nausea relief. It can be eaten during pregnancy, when you have motion sickness, and any time you have an upset stomach.

If you have never had ginger before you might be surprised by it's spicy flavor. When I first tried ginger candy I hated the flavor, but I knew I could not keep taking prescription medicine for nausea all the time since my medicine made me sleepy and had other unpleasant side effects. The ginger candy helped me so much. I love the hard candies when my nausea is extra annoying and my mouth is dry. Sucking on them helps wet my whistle and helps my nausea. The chewy candies are great when I want a snack, but don't really feel well. Eating ginger candy has drastically reduced the amount of nausea medicine I take. Some days I only eat a few after meals and other days I feel like I eat thousands.

The Ginger People have candies in different flavors like peanut and caramel, as well as the plain ginger. Another great thing about these candies is that they are gluten free. You can find The Ginger People candies at fancy grocery stores, like Whole Foods and World Market. I buy mine on amazon. You can get them in normal sized bags or you can be like me and buy 11 pound bags that last 6 months to a year.

You can buy The Ginger People Chewy Candy here.
You can buy The Ginger People Hard Candy here.
If you know you love them you can find the gigantic 11 pound bag here.

A Wife and Mom living with Gastroparesis

I am a wife and  mom living gastroparesis. If you looked at me, most days, you would never guess I am sick, but I am. I try not to talk about it because I am not my illness. There are days when it is discouraging and I feel like it is the end of the world, but there are also good days. I am a woman with hope, dreams, and most importantly faith. I know that with God I will make it though the tough times.

Part of my Support System and I

When I first started showing symptoms I was sick as a dog. I had all the symptoms of a stomach bug, but they never went away. I was throwing up... Many, many times a day. I was nauseated constantly. First the doctors said it was a bug. Then they said it was stress. After many visits they had no answers and asked if I had an eating disorder. At that point I had been sick for over 6 months and lost 50 pounds. I frequented the ER so often for IV fluids that they knew on sight to find a tech that was good at starting IVs. By the time I had been sick for a year I was still no closer to a diagnosis and had lost close to 70 pounds. By then we had moved and I had all new doctors. These doctors were concerned. They wanted to find the problem and fix it.

February 2011

At 29 years old, after 14 months of being sick and numerous tests and lots of doctors visits I had an answer; I have idiopathic gastroparesis. There is no cure. I can treat the symptoms, but it will not go away. Gastroparesis means paralyzed stomach. Many people with gastroparesis are diabetic; I am not therefore my gastroparesis is idiopathic, meaning they have no idea what caused it. My stomach does not work correctly to digest food or liquids. It can take many hours or even days for food and drinks to digest. The other big part of treating gastroparesis (GP) is MAJOR diet changes. Low fiber, and low fat. No raw fruits and vegetables, no red meats, no high fat foods. I take multiple antiemetic as needed. They help my main symptom, nausea. One of my medicines has helped me to maintain a somewhat more normal life. Once I started it I could eat and drink again sometimes. The new medicine even helped me gain a little weight back. My worst symptoms now are nausea, constipation, and fatigue followed by more minor symptoms like bloating and abdominal pain. Because I do not get proper nutrients with my GP my bowels do not work properly.  I do not absorb nutrients well from food either. I cannot take many kinds of medications because my body does not dissolve and absorb the pills and many other medications exacerbate my GP symptoms.
It has now been three and a half years since I was diagnosed. Thankfully my vomiting episodes are rare. I am still nauseated all the time. It is usually a tolerable level of nausea, maybe because I have just gotten used to it. I have days or weeks where my GP flares up horribly and I end up needing IV fluids.  Thankfully, I have learned what I can and cannot eat, most of the time. Sometimes even my "safe foods" can start a flare. During a flare I vomit and feel horribly nauseated. At these times I rest more and stick to a liquid diet. Some days I cannot even tolerate liquids. Water is one of my biggest enemies. It seems like something easy to digest, but it is not. 

February 2012

According to Temple University Hospital Digestive Disease Center, 1.5 million Americans have gastroparesis. Many people have much more severe GP and require feeding tubes and take nothing by mouth. Many patients with gastroparesis do not have success with any of the treatment options. Gastroparesis effects much more than your physical health. It effects our emotional well being, our relationships with friends and family, and our feelings of self worth.

For me gastroparesis has caused me to have anxiety and panic attacks. It has changed everything about how I live my life. Thankfully, my family is very supportive, but even with their support I often feel discouraged because I find it hard to do daily tasks because of my nausea and fatigue. Some days just dragging myself out of bed and taking my son to the bus stop is enough to make me need a nap when I get home.

There is also guilt and I think it is probably the worst unseen side effect. I feel guilty for messing up vacations, for changing plans from eating at a nice restaurant to picking up food to go so I don't have to smell the food smells. There is guilt from not being able to take my son everywhere he wants to go and do everything he wants to do. There is guilt from date nights gone wrong because I feel bad, so we cut things short or sit around and do nothing. I have guilt from saying no to helping with things at church or backing out at the last minute and leaving them shorthanded.  I know that there is no reason for my guilt, but I struggle with it on an almost daily basis. I feel like I am letting down my family and friends.

Making friends is also difficult. Many social activities revolve around eating. When you show up for dinner and don't eat, people ask questions and sometimes it can get really awkward. It is also hard to maintain relationships because eventually people quit inviting you when you have canceled many times before because you were all of the sudden feeling rotten.

In the ER on vacation getting IV Fluids

Maintaining a normal family life is hard as well. Like I said my family is supportive, but we have gone on trips many times before only to have to stop so I can vomit out the car door or dump out the bucket I used while we drove down the road. We have also been to Emergency Rooms all over the country when I needed IV fluids while we were on vacation or weekend trips. One of the worst trips was when we went on a weekend trip to New York City and as we were about to get on the Subway I got sick and had to run to the McDonalds down the road because it had the nearest public bathroom. I spent almost an hour in the bathroom being sick while my husband and son patiently waited outside.

We eat differently than normal families. I still cook meals, most days. It is a daily struggle for me to cook meals that can satisfy my dietary needs and give my husband and son enough fiber and nutrients. It is also a struggle to watch them eat foods I used to love. Most days I just put on a happy face and enjoy my small piece of chicken and mushy squash and pretend to be happy while they chow down on a nice crisp salad or a juicy steak or a big piece of cake. Some days I am not that strong. I hate to admit that recently I have broken down into tears because I miss food, and more

August 2015

than food I miss my old life. I miss being vibrant and healthy. I miss being able to spend an entire day at the beach in the sun without worrying about dehydration. I miss getting in the car for a spur of the moment day trip without having to worry about whether or not I grabbed some gastroparesis friendly peanut butter crackers and my nausea medicine.

I love my life, but I want to be healthy again. I want to wake up knowing it will be a good day and lunch will not suddenly and unexpectedly make me sick. Some things change your life forever. Learning to live with an invisible illness has changed my life. I have learned so much about who I am and who I want to be. I don't want sympathy because I am sick. I want to be understood. I want people to see how one illness or one event can change everything in the blink of an eye.

If you would like to learn more about gastroparesis please visit: www.g-pact.org.

From "Amazing Grace" to "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall"

The other day I found myself singing in the shower, if you know me you know that this is a rare thing. I am not a singer. The song I chose to sing was an old one; "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." Who doesn't love that? I haven't sung it in years and it reminded me of days gone by.

When I was a kid my Grandparents lived on the river. Their street wasn't too busy and they knew almost everyone. My Grandma loved to go for walks. We walked that road thousands of times over the years, from their house to the old cemetery. We would talk while we walked, about life, about family, about anything and everything, and we would sing.

My Grandma loved music. She played piano by ear and was pretty good at it and she sang pretty well for an old lady. We sang anything my Grandma and Grandpa could think of. We sang things varying from "Amazing Grace" to "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." It would all flow right together. The way it usually worked was Grandma picked a song and then Grandpa picked the next... It made for some interesting combinations. Much to Grandma's dismay, when my brother or I got to pick we usually picked one of Grandpa's songs. Our favorite song went like this:

The first marine went over the top, parlez vous.

The second marine went over the top, parelz vous.

The third marine stayed behind,

Kissed the girls and drank the wine.

Inky Dinky parlez vous.

My Grandpa says they sang it during World War II. My brother and I loved it. Over the years I have heard many versions of this, but never the one we sang.

As I said earlier, my Grandma had musical talent. My brother has a decent amount of musical talent. My Grandpa not so much and then you have me... I have NO musical skills. I have just enough that I can tell that I am off key and I can't carry a tune in a bucket. For a while my Grandma just let me sing. I was little and she thought I would grow out of it. Sadly, I never grew out of it. As I got older my Grandma got more vocal about my skills, or lack thereof. She made rude comments about how I couldn't sing and how I needed to learn. She tried and tried to teach me to carry a tune, but alas... we finally both gave up. We were discouraged. I was tired of her being mean to me because I couldn't sing and she was tired of me stinking at it so badly.

We still went on walks, we just had to talk more or walk in silence. When they moved we all missed our walks there. I have many fond memories of our walks along the road and wandering the old cemetery.

A few years ago, my Grandma called me and says "I'm sorry." I was confused and asked what she was sorry for. She responded with "I'm sorry for being mean to you about your singing and making you quit singing as a kid." It was rare for my Grandma to apologize for anything and while I appreciated her apology I found it to be hilarious that she apologized for something that had happened almost 20 years ago.

I sure miss those days. The walks and the singing.... even if I still can't carry a tune in a bucket.